Last month I read "Grace, Not Perfection" by Emily Ley with my Mastermind Mamas and I thought it was a brilliant book (I told some of my British friends that I was going to start using that adjective more often). The ideas in this book are things that NEED to be heard by a lot of women out there. But, to be honest, I’m not one of those women. I spent a lot of my time reading thinking, “I’m not like that.” Or, “I don’t do that.” In this book, she outlines typical ways that a lot of women strive to get things perfect. Mothering, keeping a tidy house, finding work/ life balance. And she suggests ways that we need to have grace with ourselves. Again, brilliant.

Mason’s favorite thing right now is to gift presents. When he plays make-believe, he finds old gift bags and tissue paper around the house and stuffs them with his toys. He hosts a pretend birthday party for one of his stuffed animals or one of his Cars 3 figures, and gasps in amazement as he “helps” them open the gift bag.

On Christmas morning he came down the stairs to see that Santa had left a bunch of wrapped presents for him under the tree, and the first thing he wanted to do was give his dad the present we had wrapped together the day before.

So when I told him we were going to visit Great Nana down in Massachusetts for Mother’s Day, he got really excited about putting a gift together for her.

As a group exercise instructor, you’d be surprised at how much people open up to me. I’m not quite sure why. Maybe it’s because a trust forms after staring at the same smiling face for an hour straight. Maybe it’s because health + wellness is a very personal matter, and if you can open up to someone about thyroid problems, fertility issues, and poop, then heck, I guess you can tell me anything. Anyway, a lot of the topics that come up I’m really not qualified to talk about. I’m not a doctor, I’m not a therapist. But I’m learning how to become a better listener. And I’m good at listening to stories. Because what I’ve learned over the years is that people just want to be heard + loved.

So recently, I found out that one of my beloved regulars received word that her husband has cancer.

And in the couple of weeks that she’s known this, I’ve learned so much from her.

I'm coaching a big group of clients through the holiday season. I am so proud of them for deciding to make a change in their eating habits NOW and not after the New Year. (If you keep telling yourself you're going to wait til NEXT Monday, or after the New Year, or after that big event, I promise you: it won't happen. Do it now.) But many of my challengers in this group have told me that they have parties coming up. And they don't trust themselves. Because how can you have just ONE glass of wine? And there's going to be CHEESE there! It's easy to rid your home of all the bad foods, nut what do you do when temptation is staring you in the face at the office holiday party or your BFF's annual cookie swap? I put together this list of 5 tips to help you stay on track during the holidays with hope that just ONE of these will help you out this year.

The other day I caught up with one of my students after class and we got to talking about her new, healthier eating habits. Elated, she confessed that she notices a boost in energy and that her body just feels better during her super chaotic days. *Sound the triumphant Rocky music* Yay! This is what proper nutrition should do to you. When we finished chatting, I asked her if she was heading in the direction of the nursery to pick up her kiddo because I was scooting that way too.

“I gotta hit the dreadmill,” she said.

“Oh? But you just had a KILLER class.” She really did.

“Yeah. But look at me.”

Yeah, but look at me? I didn’t even know what to say. Was she expecting me to say, “Yeah, your stomach could be a little flatter?” Or “Your butt definitely needs lifting?” Or “You should really pick up some dumbells and work on that upper arm flab while you’re at it?”

This week, the crisp New England fall skies graced us with a clear view of the lunar eclipse. It was a supermoon, which I learned, means that the moon appeared to be about 8% bigger. Through the vision of the naked eye, 8% isn't really noticeable, but I can tell you that the dominance of this massive beast in the night sky was absolutely undeniable.

"The universe" has grown to become this obscure idea-- a vague force that many of us have decided to accept as a significant power in our lives. I have always believed that I hold the majority of the control over the way circumstances play out in my life, but that the universe is controlling a small percentage.

Over the past month, I made a conscious decision to take a major step back from social media. Having a career that revolves heavily around my virtual community, this was not an easy decision for me to make. I am well aware of the statistics regarding making 3 posts daily on my Facebook “Like” page, broadcasting at least 1 Periscope per day, and following my followers on Instagram. But my days were starting to become annoyingly consumed with a chirping phone. I would open my laptop to pay some bills but I’d end up mindlessly scrolling Facebook, forgetting why I sat down at my desk to begin with. And my comparisonitis was starting to act up again. Oh, I’m sorry Pinterest moms, I didn’t know I needed a degree in interior design to successfully throw a train-themed party for my son’s 2nd birthday. On top of that, communication with friends through Facebook was starting to feel emotionless. It wasn’t me. None of it felt right any more. And lately, I have been trying extra hard to do what FEELS right.

Many of my clients get hung up on the consistency. We live in a “get slim quick” kind of society. When the answer to any and every question is now at the tap of a fingertip, we have quickly come to live in a world of instant gratification. Many times, I work with clients who are enthusiastic to start their journeys, but when they don’t see results after a week or two, they give up.

It’s 9pm. You finished dinner with the family a couple hours ago. You’re not hungry but you want a snack.

Well, hello, internal struggle, it’s nice to see you again. I’ve missed you since last night.

Your mind is telling you no but your heart is all like: snuggling up with that ginormous box of Cheez-Its on the couch during the Bachelorette sounds like the best thing in the world right now. We convince ourselves that we deserve it. The kids are in bed, it was a long day, this is our time to enjoy life’s little pleasures.

That sentence deserves a whole paragraph, all to itself, at the beginning of my blog, because for me, this was a really big deal. Tapping dance is, was, always has been a huge passion of mine. At 5-years-old, when I enrolled in my first tap class, I was presented with the perfect platform to express my itch to dance, my ability to keep a beat, and my love for dressing up in tights and sequins.

When my son, Mason, was 12-month-old, one day, after barely ever acknowledging their presence, he decided to try climbing the stairs. It only took him two days of practice before he attempted and succeeded in climbing the entire flight. When my mom (always a proponent for a gate) nervously asked, “what did he do when he got to the top?” I responded, “He just kept going. Kept on crawling. He didn’t even look back.” His gigantic feat reminded me where determination, tenacity, and goal-setting can get me in life: even farther than the top step.